The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-22
STRAIGHT AND CROOKED LEGS.
What Makes Men Bandy Legged and
Knock Kneed-The Cure
From the Ne,o York Evening Sun.

AASOO-1 no SuI0.
From the Ne,o York Evening Sun.
Comparatively few men have really
straight legs In walk from Fourteenth
street to the Battery reporter made rough
estimate and found that not more than one
in three of the men who passed him were
straight imbed. Most of them were bow or
handy legged some of them We're knock
tneed. and in a few instances both legs
bent the same way. 1t was noticed that as
a rule the stout, heavy men had parenthesis
leos while those of slighter built in many
cases carried their bodies on figure re-
sembling an n.
This rule, however, does not always hold.
MANY men of no inconsiderable avoirdupois
strike their knees together when they walk.
II is not uncommon to see long, lanky man
whose legs are so bent that he is physically
incapacitated from stopping the traditional
pig in an alleyway. Frequently bow legged
ness is associated with strength. 1t is usually
seen in short, sturdy men: Those who are
knock kneed have no such recompense unless
the excuse for renewing trousers, which are
constantly being worn out at the knees by
chatting one against the other, be considered
as such.
experience in city hospital was asked to
explain the prevalency of crooked legs. He
said sit is a fact that very few persons
have straight legs. My attention is often
called to it. 1t is hard to say just why it is
Many say that it is because children are
made to walk when they are too young.
Mothers like to have their little ones on their
feet at as early an age as possible, and SO
sometimes force them to stand before their
legs are able to bear the weight of their
bodies. Nurses, too, when they take
children out for an airing often make them
walk without their parents knowledge. I'm
doubtedly this is sometimes the cause OF the
deformity, Probably many man owes his
curved legs to a careless nurse who got tired
of CARRYING him when he was a baby, and
put him down when away from his mother.
Others say, with good reason also, that it is
dine to baby carriages. The child is wheeled
about until it is quite old. Its body is thus
developed while its legs are doing nothing,
and when finally it is made to use them,
thew being still soft, bend under the weight
of the body. believe that this treatment
of children is responsible for more bow
leggedness, or cnemoScoliousis, as we call it,
than anything else.
every one knows that the bones of the
human body are made up of cartilaginous
or sinewy fibre and mineral matter, and that
when young the former predominates. The
bones at that stage have, therefore, little
rigidity, and are very easily bent. I'm
fortunately they have little elasticity,
either, and readily take a set. The proper
ton of cartilage and mineral matter varies
in different children, so that it is impossible
to give any fixed age at which they should
be made to walk. Many can walk well
when IL months old, while others cannot do
so until they are 2 years old.
''In some children there is an unusual pro-
portion of sinew in the bone, and in these
cases the legs are almost certain to become
crooked. In these instances braces can be
used with advantage until the bones harden
This simple remedy is rarely used, however,
sometimes from the apathy of the parents,
but chiefly because the tendency is not
noticed until it is too late. The legs bend
one way OF the other very gradually, and
when the curve is perceptible it is usually
past the cure Of braces. This condition of
the bones is often due to insufficient food
and general neglect. Unless the blood is
kept rich and healthy the bones are apt to
be retarded in development, and so, remain
ing soft, are readily twisted.
"Sometimes bow-legged children become
straight when they grow older. My mother
told me that when | was child my legs
formed AMI almost perfect ellipse. Now
venture to assert, they are straighter than
most mems. In my own experience | have
seen this occur, but it is impossible to fore
tell if the curve in a childs legs will
Stralghten out III AFTER years or not.
SIS there any means of Strengthening legs
when once they are set crooked" asked the
reporter.
''Yes, and 10y very simple process. The
curvature in bow-legged persons is usually
Just below the knee. To remove it we take
piece out Of the outside of the bone-that
is the convex side-and then break the bone
on the other side This enables us to make
the leg properly straight by using stiff
splints, and It isn't long before the legs are
all right again and as straight as can be
desired In knock-kneed persons the curv-
allure is above the knee, and the same pro-
cess can be used 1t is not so often done,
however, as few people care to have the
thigh bone broken merely to increase their
personal beauty
''Then you often cure bow-legged men in
this wayf'
"Oh yes. OF course when the curve is so
marked that it actually interferes with the
walking some such operation is necessary,
but we frequently are called upon to do it
simply to improve a mans appearance.
Some time ago a young man wrote to me
from the West, begging me to suggest some
means of making his legs straight He
Gould walk well enough, but he wasn't
satisfied with his appearance. | told him
what he would have to undergo, and
although he hesitated at first, he finally
consented and went through it manfully.
he is very proud of his straight legs now,
although he never tells how he got them.
Braces can sometimes be used to straighten
the legs Of young boys, but when the bone
has become really hardened they are not of
much use.n